Digital Commons Network^™

First Quantitative Investigation On The Dosimetric Perturbation From Dental Hardware In Spot-Scanning Proton Arc (Sparc®) Therapy And Planning Strategies In Head Neck Cancer Patient Population, Evan Harbert

Masters Projects

Purpose

There has been a tremendous interest in applying Spot-scanning Proton Arc (SPArc^®) to benefit head and neck cancer (HNC) patient population. However, the dental hardware materials effects on the beam distribution are not well understood, and placing spots through the dental hardware may cause an unnecessary degradation of target coverage if the material components differ from the nominal plan. The purpose of this study is to provide a quantitative dose perturbation analysis of the uncertainties caused by dental hardware and introduce a SPArc^® planning strategy to mitigate such impacts.

Methods and Materials

A published in-house developed …

Elucidation Of A Role In Biofilm Production For The Tyrosine Catabolism Pathway In Vibrio Cholerae And Analysis Of Reversible Phase Variation In Vibrio Vulnificus, Aheli S. Mukerji

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Biofilms produced by the cholera pathogen Vibrio cholerae not only enhance its ability to survive in the environment but also allow pathogenic success of the bacterium. This organism also undergoes phase variation, switching between smooth and rugose colonial phenotypes, the latter forming much more vibrio polysaccharide (VPS) resulting in more robust biofilms and subsequently having an increased level of persistence. In a previous study, many genes were found to be upregulated in the transition from the smooth to the rugose phenotype. Here, several of these upregulated genes were investigated for their potential role in biofilm production, and an additional gene, …

Magnetic Field Enabled Assembly And Propulsion Of Colloidal Particles In A Magnetic Medium, Hashir M. Gauri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Colloidal particles are nano/micro meter-sized particles dispersed in a fluid medium and serve as diverse building blocks for assembling complex structures. The ease of tunability of the shape, size, and interparticle interactions of colloidal particles facilitates their assembly into rich structures and phases that mirror the assembly process of atomic systems. Often regarded as "big atoms" colloidal particles provide an ideal model system for investigating complex phenomena in condensed matter, such as crystallization and nucleation. While the assembly of colloids under thermodynamic equilibrium has been extensively studied, recent interest has shifted toward exploring colloids in non-equilibrium conditions to create dynamic …

Modulation Of Redox-Sensitive Cardiac Ion Channels, Rawan S. Orfali, Al Hassan Gamal El-Din, Varnika Karthik, Elisanjer Lamis, Vanna Xiao, Alena Ramanishka, Abdullah Alwatban, Osama Alkhamees, Ali Alaseem, Young-Woo Nam, Miao Zhang

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Redox regulation is crucial for the cardiac action potential, coordinating the sodium-driven depolarization, calcium-mediated plateau formation, and potassium-dependent repolarization processes required for proper heart function. Under physiological conditions, low-level reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated by mitochondria and membrane oxidases, adjust ion channel function and support excitation–contraction coupling. However, when ROS accumulate, they modify a variety of important channel proteins in cardiomyocytes, which commonly results in reducing potassium currents, enhancing sodium and calcium influx, and enhancing intracellular calcium release. These redox-driven alterations disrupt the cardiac rhythm, promote after-depolarizations, impair contractile force, and accelerate the development of heart diseases. Experimental models demonstrate …

Enhancing Rural Teacher Training Using The Internet Backpack: Broadband Policy Implications, Jane Appiah-Okyere, Danielle Smith, Lee W. Mcknight

The Lender Center for Social Justice

This article examines how the Internet Backpack can enhance rural teacher training, with a focus on the broadband policy frameworks required to sustain its adoption. It highlights education policy in the context of digital equity.

The Role Of Self-Reported Health Ratings In Identifying Hospitalization Risk Among Older Adults: An Integrated Review And Secondary Analyses Of Medicare Claims Data, Mary B. Prybylo

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study examined how Self-Reported Health (ratings), a person’s own evaluation of their overall health, relates to hospital admissions and emergency department utilization. It further assessed the extent to which demographic characteristics, Risk Adjustment Factor (RAF) scores (used to estimate healthcare expenditures based on clinical complexity), and the number of chronic conditions influence SRH rating and the likelihood of hospitalization.

Problem and Aim: The growing population of older adults places greater demands on healthcare services, leading to increased financial strain and a need for improved care strategies. Primary care teams, particularly those managing older adults, require effective assessment …

The Use Of Concurrent Progressive Magnitude Schedules To Scale Reinforcer Efficacy, Morgan Scully

Doctoral Dissertations - College of Arts and Sciences

Effective reinforcement-based treatment requires the identification of stimuli that function as potent reinforcers. In practice, reinforcer efficacy is commonly measured via stimulus preference assessments. These data are typically summarized as a percentage of trials with selection and, although they identify hierarchies of reinforcing quality, they do not clearly provide a quantitative description of the relative reinforcing effects of the stimuli assessed. Quantitative methods for scaling reinforcer efficacy may offer more precision but are less common in practice. Drawing from the preference assessment and quantitative analysis of behavior literature bases, we designed and evaluated the use of a concurrent progressive-magnitude schedule …

Haploblocks Contribute To Parallel Climate Adaptation Following Global Invasion Of A Cosmopolitan Plant, Paul Battlay, Brandon T. Hendrickson, Jonas I. Mendez-Reneau, James S. Santangelo, Lucas J. Albano, Jonathan Wilson, Aude E. Caizergues, Nevada King, Adriana Puentes, Amelia Tudoran, Cyrille Violle, Francois Vasseur, Courtney M. Patterson, Michael Foster, Caitlyn Stamps, Simon G. Innes, Rémi Allio, Fabio Angeoletto, Daniel N. Anstett, Julia Anstett, Anna Bucharova, Mattheau S. Comerford, Santiago David, Mohsen Falahati-Anbaran, William Godsoe, César González-Lagos, Pedro E. Gundel, Glen Ray Hood, Christian Lampei, Christian Lampei

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The role of rapid adaptation during species invasions has historically been minimized with the assumption that introductions consist of few colonists and limited genetic diversity. While overwhelming evidence suggests that rapid adaptation is more prevalent than originally assumed, the demographic and adaptive processes underlying successful invasions remain unresolved. Here we leverage a large whole-genome sequence dataset to investigate the relative roles of colonization history and adaptation during the worldwide invasion of the forage crop, Trifolium repens (Fabaceae). We show that introduced populations encompass high levels of genetic variation with little evidence of bottlenecks. Independent colonization histories on different continents are …

The Lewis Basicity Of Amines On The Legault Iodonium Lewis Acidity Scale., Soocheta Jha, Souradeep Basu, Madison Bob, David R. Stuart

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Diaryliodonium-amine complexes are proposed as key intermediates in metal-free C-N coupling reactions. Herein, H NMR titration is used to quantify association constants () between diaryliodonium triflates and synthetically relevant amines from which the amine Lewis basicity (LB) parameter is calculated. Compared to anionic Lewis bases, distinct solvent effects are observed.

Making Sense Of Modernity, Donald Roth

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"We don’t like the ambivalence of being both grateful for what God has given us and yet sorrowful over the human sin or suffering that came along the way. We are prone to distortion and idolatry when we embrace either of these one-sided narratives."

Posting about the allure of our modern world from In All Things, an online hub that offers insight into maintaining and faithful and orthodox Reformed Christian worldview while fearlessly engaging in every aspect of contemporary life – until all is made new.

Making Sense of Modernity

Quantifying Impacts Of Microplastic Emissions In Life Cycle Impact Assessment, Maria Elena Corella Puertas

Micro-Nano Plastics in Water: Characterization, Cure and Prevention

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Livestock Poultry Health Committee Minutes, Clemson University Board Of Trustees, 2025 July 8, Clemson University Board Of Trustees

Minutes

No abstract provided.

Adaptation And Standardization Of Two Arabic Communicative Development Inventories For Children Aged 8 To 30 Months And 30 To 48 Months In Egypt, Jordan And Palestine, Alshaimaa Abdelwahab, Caroline Floccia, Samuel Forbes, Zakiyah Alsiddiqi, Khalid Al-Shdifat, Cristina Mckean, Thair Odeh, Anastasia Trebacz, Ghada Khattab

School of Psychology

PURPOSE: Assessing early language skills through parental report is a cost-effective way to screen for language delays when resources are scarce. A pan-Arabic lexeme approach was tested by extending the Egyptian adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) to Jordan and Palestine in infants aged 8-30 months (Arabic CDI Toddler). We also developed a version for children aged 30-48 months (Arabic CDI Child) in the three countries. A fair representation of the population in terms of geographical spread, maternal education, and environmental context was obtained through stratified sampling. METHOD: The Arabic CDI Toddler, containing a 100-word list with dialect …

Assessing Physicians' Agreement And The Completeness Of The Decision Aid ‘Arriba Diabetes’: A Cross-Sectional Study, Nicole Lindner, Marie-Christine Hoffmann, Jörg Haasenritter, Jan K. Woike, Norbert Donner-Banzhoff

School of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Long-Term Segregation And Seclusion For People With An Intellectual Disability And/Or Autism In Hospitals: A Critique Of The Current State Of Affairs: Commentary, Tromans Et Al, Rohit Shankar

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Metastable Macrocyclic Bis-Meisenheimer Adduct, Simon Pascal, Angélina Torres Ruiz, Aerin E. Baker, Douglas A. Vander Griend, Michel Giorgi, Aurélien Planchat,, Denis Jacquemin, Olivier Siri

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

An electron‐deficient tetranitroazacalixarene is shown to undergo reversible cyanide capture via nucleophilic aromatic substitution, yielding an unprecedented class of metastable dianionic macrocycle incorporating two Meisenheimer units, fully characterized by single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, NMR, and electronic absorption spectroscopies. Acting as a chemical fuel, cyanide transiently drives the formation of this adduct, which can spontaneously regenerate the parent macrocycle under mild conditions, representing a rare demonstration of metastability in a Meisenheimer complex. The dynamic behavior of this system, reminiscent of out‐of‐equilibrium assemblies, is finely tunable through macrocycle concentration, counterion nature, solvent, and temperature. Detailed crystallographic, spectroscopic, and computational analyses reveal that intramolecular …

Genome-Wide Characterization Of Vdac Gene Family In Soybean (Glycine Max L.) And In Silico Expression Profiling In Response To Drought And Salt Stress, Muhammad Muneeb Ullah, Muqadas Aleem, Mudassar Muhammad Iqbal, Ainong Shi

Horticulture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Soybean (Glycine max L.) is grown worldwide to obtain edible oil, livestock feed, and biodiesel. However, drought and salt stress are becoming serious challenges to global soybean cultivation as they retard the growth of soybean plants and cause significant yield losses. Voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) proteins are well-known for their role in drought and salt tolerance in crop plants. In this study, we identified 111 putative VDAC genes randomly distributed in genomes of 14 plant species, including cultivated soybean (Glycine max) and wild soybean (Glycine soja). The comparative phylogenetic studies classified these genes into six different clades and found the …

Remote Sensing-Based Assessment Of Evapotranspiration Patterns In A Unesco World Heritage Site Under Increasing Water Competition, Maria C. Moyano, Monica Garcia, Luis Juana, Laura Recuero, Lucia Tornos, Joshua B. Fisher, Néstor Fernández, Alicia Palacias-Orueta

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

In water-scarce regions, natural ecosystems and agriculture increasingly compete for limited water resources, intensifying stress during periods of drought. To assess these competing demands, we applied a modified PT-JPL model that incorporates the thermal inertial approach as a substitute for relative humidity (RH) in estimating soil evaporation—a method that significantly outperforms the original PT-JPL formulation in Mediterranean semi-arid irrigated areas. This remote sensing framework enabled us to quantify spatial and temporal variations in water use across both natural and agricultural systems within the UNESCO World Heritage site of Doñana. Our analysis revealed an increasing evapotranspiration (ET) trend in intensified agricultural …

Conniff, Michael L. (1942-2025), San Jose State University

Emeritus and Retired Faculty Biographies

University of California, 1968, BA, Latin American Studies

Stanford University, 1969, MA, Latin American Studies

Stanford University, 1976, Ph.D., History

2025-07-08 Minutes, Morehead State University. Staff Congress.

Staff Congress Records

Staff Congress meeting minutes from July 8, 2025.

Under Pressure: Performance Loads And Recovery In Ncaa Division I Women’S Soccer During Fixture Congestion, Jade X. Dawson, Fabiano T. Amorim

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Soccer places high physiological demands on athletes, and match congestion—playing more than two games per week—is a growing concern at the NCAA Division I level. Limited recovery time between matches can impair performance and increase injury risk, prompting widespread use of recovery strategies. However, research on their effectiveness remains inconclusive, and most existing studies focus on male athletes, leaving a gap in evidence specific to female players. This review and observational study aim to evaluate non-nutritional recovery strategies in NCAA Division I women’s soccer and examine how recovery duration influences performance.

Match load data were collected from eleven female athletes …

Comparison Of Shear Bond Strength Of New And Rebonded Symetri™ Clear Ceramic Brackets, Ciara Schwarz

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the shear bond strength of the Symetri™ Clear brackets bonded initially to enamel versus after rebonding. An additional aim was to see how a generic debond pliers compares to the Symetri™ Debonding pliers in terms of shear bond strength and bracket morphology after debond. Methods: Sixty extracted premolars and nine extracted canines were collected and stored in 1% Chloramine T solution. The canines were used for a pilot study to test methodology. The premolars were randomly assigned to one of three Groups: Group 1 (single bond), Group 2A (debond with Symetri™ …

Systemic Carbonic Anhydrase Inhibitors In Common Ophthalmic Diseases: A Scoping Review From A Clinical Standpoint, Shahin Hallaj, Wesam S. Shalaby, Sapna Sinha, Jonathan S. Myers, Reza Razeghinejad

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper provides a detailed overview of systemic carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) and their application in managing ophthalmic conditions, including glaucoma, cystoid macular edema, and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Despite their recognized clinical benefits, the potential for severe systemic adverse effects often discourages clinicians from prescribing these agents. By examining the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, safety profile, and clinical indications of systemic CAIs, this review highlights strategies to mitigate treatment challenges, particularly in patients with comorbidities and complex medical backgrounds.

RECENT FINDINGS: New insights into the diverse roles and distribution of carbonic anhydrase (CA) isozymes have expanded our understanding of …

Mechanism Of Ph-Sensitive Amphiphilic Endosomal Escape Of Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles For Cytosolic Nucleic Acid Delivery, Zheng Rong Lu, Da Sun

Faculty Scholarship

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are among the most successful classes of nonviral delivery systems for nucleic acid-based therapeutics in treating human diseases. One of the key challenges in achieving efficient cytosolic delivery of nucleic acids is overcoming endosomal entrapment within cells. Conventional lipid bilayer-forming cationic and amino lipids mediate endosomal escape via the mechanism of lamellar-to-inverted hexagonal phase transition, resulting in suboptimal cytosolic cargo delivery. pH-sensitive amphiphilic cell membrane disruption and endosomal escape have emerged as a strategy for designing protonatable or ionizable lipids, especially nonlamellar lipids, for efficient cytosolic nucleic acid delivery. Nonlamellar amino lipids possess a large wedge-shaped tail …

Ensuring Data Quality In Large International Development Projects: Tools, Strategies, And Lessons Learned, Jennifer Sdunzik, Ann M. Bessenbacher, Wilella D. Burgess, Asia M. Mohamud, Abdirisak Dalmar

Somalia Education Evaluation Publications

The success of development projects and evaluations hinges on having access to research protocols and methodologies that consider the needs and characteristics of stakeholders, subjects, and context while remaining rigorous and culturally sound. These efforts are often complicated by a dearth of tools that have been tested for validity and reliability in communities of interest and data collection environments that necessitate reliance on international and domestic partners with varying backgrounds to collect, process, and share data. Overcoming these challenges requires flexibility, intentionality, and continuous improvement across all partners. This article describes lessons learned from a mixed-methods longitudinal evaluation of an …

Str Analysis Performance Comparison For Two Capillary Electrophoresis Instruments: The Seqstudio And The 3500 Genetic Analyzers, Yana Leichyk

Student Theses

This study compares the performance of two capillary electrophoresis instruments—the SeqStudio™ Genetic Analyzer and the 3500™ Genetic Analyzer—for forensic short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. Using the GlobalFiler STR kit and certified reference material (SRM 2391d), five key performance metrics were evaluated: sizing precision, signal reproducibility, detection sensitivity, mixture resolution, and overload tolerance. STR profiles were generated from single-source and mixture samples with DNA inputs ranging from 500 pg to 15.6 pg. Both instruments met the < 0.15 bp sizing precision requirement for forensic casework. Signal reproducibility tests showed that the SeqStudio often produced higher average RFU values, but with greater variability, while the 3500 demonstrated more stable signal performance across days and samples. Mixture detection was effective on both platforms up to 1:10 ratios. Dropout of minor alleles began to appear at 1:20 ratios, especially in green and yellow dye channels, on both instruments. Sensitivity studies confirmed full profile recovery down to 62.5 pg, with increasing allelic and locus dropout at lower inputs. Enhanced injection voltage (1.5 kV) did not improve low-template performance. In overload testing (1–5 ng input), the 3500 maintained a consistent signal output, while the SeqStudio exhibited signal suppression at 5 ng, likely due to internal normalization. The SeqStudio exhibited better spectral overlap compensation, with fewer occurrences of spectral bleed-through artifacts. These findings support the use of both platforms in forensic casework, while emphasizing the importance of platform-specific calibration and analytical threshold settings for optimal performance.

The Effects Of Rubber Dam Clamps On Zirconia Crown Restorations, Haley D. Kessler, Albert F. Mcmullen Iii, Hunter Kortum, Edwin Kee, Thomas E. Lallier

School of Dentistry Faculty Publications

Rubber dam isolation is crucial in providing sterility and a controlled environment when performing root canal therapy. Rubber dam clamps have been controversial due to their rigidity and composition, which is thought to cause damage to zirconia full coverage crowns. This study evaluated three types of zirconia crowns anterior 5Y, premolar 4Y, and molar 3Y to assess their resistance to damage from rubber dam clamps. Of the 30 total zirconia crowns that were tested for damage following the usage of rubber dam clamps, no fractures or chips were observed. There was no significant difference between the negative control group, and …

Distinct Echinocandin Responses Of Candida Albicans And Candida Auris Cell Walls Revealed By Solid-State Nmr, Malitha C. Dickwella Widanage, Kalpana Singh, Jizhou Li, Jayasubba Reddy Yarava, Faith J. Scott, Yifan Xu, Neil A.R. Gow, Frederic Mentink-Vigier, Ping Wang, Frederic Lamoth, Tuo Wang

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Invasive candidiasis affects 1.6 million people annually, with high mortality among immunocompromised and hospitalized patients. Echinocandins are frontline antifungals, but rising resistance limits their efficacy. Here, we show that Candida albicans and multidrug-resistant Candida auris share a conserved cell wall architecture yet differ markedly in their adaptive responses to echinocandins. Solid-state NMR reveals that both species possess a rigid inner layer of tightly associated chitin microfibrils and β−1,3-glucans, supported by a flexible matrix of β−1,6-glucans and additional β−1,3-glucans. Outer mannan fibrils rely on α−1,2-linked sidechains to maintain contact with the inner wall. In both species, caspofungin rigidifies β−1,6-glucans and mannan …

Polymorphic Α-Glucans As Structural Scaffolds In Cryptococcus Cell Walls For Chitin, Capsule, And Melanin: Insights From 13c And 1h Solid-State Nmr, Ankur Ankur, Jayasubba Reddy Yarava, Isha Gautam, Faith J. Scott, Frederic Mentink-Vigier, Christine Chrissian, Li Xie, Dibakar Roy, Ruth E. Stark, Tamara L. Doering, Ping Wang, Tuo Wang

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

Cryptococcus species are major fungal pathogens responsible for life-threatening infections in approximately a million individuals globally each year, with alarmingly high mortality rates. These fungi are distinguished by a distinctive cell wall architecture further reinforced by two virulence-associated layers, melanin and capsule, rendering them insensitive to antifungal agents targeting the cell wall, such as echinocandins. The molecular interplay between these three biomolecular layers remains poorly understood. Here we employ solid-state NMR spectroscopy to examine intact cells of both wild-type and capsule-deficient strains of C. neoformans, along with melanized cells. High-resolution 13C and 1H data revealed five distinct structural forms of …

Navigating Modernity: Hallyu, Religious Identity And Muslim Youth In Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Euiyoung Kyung

Student Works (2020-2029)

This study explores how young Indonesian Muslims navigate their religious identity while engaging with the global Hallyu (Korean Wave) phenomenon. In the world's largest Muslim-majority nation, Hallyu has created a vibrant youth subculture that has sparked social debate about the intersection of global cultural trends and Islamic values. Using ethnographic methodology, this research gathered data through in-depth interviews with 36 participants, participant observation of K-pop dance teams and events, and analysis of social media accounts including "Hijrah K-pop" and jogjakpopersmedia. The study reveals that women constitute the overwhelming majority of active participants, making this a predominantly female-centered phenomenon. The …